約1,200名開發(fā)者注冊(cè)參加本周的MeeGo大會(huì),MeeGo是英特爾(Intel)開發(fā)的一種移動(dòng)Linux變體,但該OS的未來尚不明朗。
對(duì)MeeGo社區(qū)來說,這是個(gè)“特別尷尬的時(shí)刻”,因?yàn)镸eeGo早已蓄勢(shì)待發(fā),但那些采用它的產(chǎn)品卻遲遲不出貨。英特爾的MeeGo社區(qū)組織者Dawn Foster說?!昂芏喙菊谂⒃O(shè)備推向市場(chǎng),但他們都不愿意談?wù)撨@些,”她在這次大會(huì)一個(gè)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)直播的訪談中表示。
“當(dāng)某款產(chǎn)品在市場(chǎng)上不夠流行時(shí),人們大都不愿意花時(shí)間學(xué)習(xí)這些新的軟件開發(fā)工具(SDK)和應(yīng)用程序界面(API),”她補(bǔ)充說。
英特爾約在兩年前就開始了代號(hào)為“Moblin”的移動(dòng)Linux研究工作。在英特爾與諾基亞(Nokia)一道合作開發(fā)智能手機(jī)后,這兩家公司將各自的移動(dòng)Linux環(huán)境合二為一,并更名為MeeGo。
但諾基亞的新CEO在今年早些時(shí)候決定,采用Microsoft Windows Phone作為諾基亞的首要智能手機(jī)平臺(tái),并結(jié)束了與英特爾的合作。與此同時(shí),英特爾將MeeGo的管理移交給Linux基金會(huì)。此后,一個(gè)汽車車載信息娛樂(IVI)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的行業(yè)組織,重新“拾起”了MeeGo。
“手機(jī)市場(chǎng)已經(jīng)飽和,所以我不認(rèn)為MeeGo會(huì)對(duì)智能手機(jī)和平板電腦產(chǎn)生重大影響,” 咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)PTR Group的首席技術(shù)官M(fèi)ichael Anderson在四月召開的嵌入式系統(tǒng)大會(huì)上在談及有關(guān)MeeGo的議題時(shí)指出。
但隨著諸如博世等公司將在預(yù)計(jì)于2012-13年推出的產(chǎn)品中采用MeeGo,MeeGo將在車載信息娛樂領(lǐng)域(IVI)有強(qiáng)勢(shì)表現(xiàn),Anderson說。
Foster介紹,約有23,000人注冊(cè)了MeeGo網(wǎng)上社區(qū),但以月為時(shí)間單位看來,活躍用戶只有約800-1,000人。MeeGo社區(qū)在10月份成立了一個(gè)IVI工作組,開始針對(duì)汽車公司服務(wù)。
隨后,MeeGo社區(qū)又成立了手機(jī)和智能電視工作組,并正考慮設(shè)立上網(wǎng)本和平板電腦工作組。 MeeGo的支持者認(rèn)為這些工作組是他們開發(fā)供應(yīng)商、推廣這種操作系統(tǒng)的最佳工具之一,F(xiàn)oster說。
此外,MeeGo的支持者們正張羅一個(gè)計(jì)劃,旨在使開發(fā)者能拿到MeeGo硬件。該組織有約150臺(tái)XO筆記本電腦,均由“每個(gè)孩子一臺(tái)筆記本電腦”計(jì)劃提供。德州儀器(TI)還承諾每月提供一到兩塊Panda板。開發(fā)人員必須通過提交在線表格,說明他們的開發(fā)項(xiàng)目,以申請(qǐng)硬件。
開發(fā)人員一直缺乏測(cè)試MeeGo應(yīng)用軟件和代碼的硬件,特別是對(duì)IVI領(lǐng)域來說, MeeGo的一位參與者說。
與目前領(lǐng)先的移動(dòng)Linux版本Google Android相比,MeeGo有若干優(yōu)勢(shì)。MeeGo環(huán)境更接近于常規(guī)(straight)Linux,而Android使用的是Dalvik虛擬機(jī),Anderson說。
開發(fā)人員可在MeeGo環(huán)境使用諸如Python等流行語言,而Android不行。此外,任何愿意向Linux基金支付99美元年費(fèi)的會(huì)員,都擁有對(duì)MeeGo未來的平等表決權(quán)。相比之下, Android的未來主要被大型手機(jī)制造商掌控,Anderson說。
本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times,版權(quán)所有,謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載
參考英文原文:Mixed signals for MeeGo at dev con , by Rick Merritt
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Mixed signals for MeeGo at dev con
Rick Merritt
About 1,200 developers signed up for this week's MeeGo conference on Intel's mobile Linux variant, but the future of the OS is unclear.
It's "a particularly awkward time" for the MeeGo community because the software is ready but no mainstream products using it have shipped yet, said Dawn Foster, a MeeGo community organizer at Intel. "A lot of companies are working on bringing devices to market, but they are not willing to talk about them yet," she said in a talk streamed live from the event.
"People aren’t willing to spend a lot of time learning a new SDK and APIs when there aren’t a lot of devices in the market," she added.
Intel started work on a mobile Linux variant called Moblin about two years ago. When it struck a partnership to develop smartphones with Nokia, the two companies merged their separate mobile Linux environments and renamed it MeeGo.
However, Nokia's new chief executive decided earlier this year to make Microsoft Windows Phone the company's primary smartphone platform, ending work with Intel. In the meantime, Intel turned over management of MeeGo to the Linux Foundation. Separately, an industry group defining in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) standards for cars adopted MeeGo.
"The handset market is saturated, so I don’t think MeeGo can make a significant impact on smartphones and tablets," said Michael Anderson, chief technology officer at consulting firm PTR Group, in a talk on MeeGo at the Embedded Systems Conference in April.
MeeGo could see significant penetration in IVI, however with companies such as Bosch and others expected to incorporate MeeGo into 2012-13 products, Anderson said.
Foster said about 23,000 people have signed up to participate in the online MeeGo community, however only about 800-1,000 are active on a monthly basis. The MeeGo community kicked off in October an IVI working group to hear requirements from automotive companies.
More recently it launched handset and smart TV working groups, and is considering working groups for netbooks and tablets. MeeGo backers see the work groups as one of their best tools for engaging vendors and helping drive the OS into shipping products, Foster said.
Separately, proponents are gearing up a program to get MeeGo hardware in the hands of developers. The group has about 150 XO notebooks from the One Laptop Per Child program and a commitment to one or two Panda boards per month from Texas Instruments. Developers must describe their project in an online form to apply for the hardware.
Developers have lacked hardware for testing MeeGo apps and code, especially for the IVI sector, said one MeeGo participant.
MeeGo has a handful of advantages over Google Android, by far the leading version of mobile Linux to date. The MeeGo environment is more similar to straight Linux than Android which uses the Dalvik virtual machine, Anderson said.
Developers can use popular languages such as Python with MeeGo, but not with Android. In addition, anyone willing to pay a $99 annual membership to the Linux Foundation has an equal vote on MeeGo futures. By contrast, Android is perceived as being run mainly by large handset makers, Anderson said.
責(zé)編:Quentin